


Making Friends

by flowerpotgirl



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-11-11
Updated: 2007-11-11
Packaged: 2019-05-15 01:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14781065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerpotgirl/pseuds/flowerpotgirl
Summary: A chance encounter leads to a new friendship.





	Making Friends

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: Usual disclaimer.  
Another strand on how others see J&D.  


* * *

Anna had carefully timed her arrival. Being new to the area she did not know anyone and did not fancy doing the whole hanging around trying to look like she was waiting for a friend bit. As she had expected all the other people gathered for the nursery presentation seemed to know each other. She had been warned what it was like but it still came as a shock to see how insular this part of DC was and how all the people appeared to be interconnected. She slipped into the room just before the presentation was due to begin and found a seat near the back.  
However, she was not the last to arrive as a blond woman, also on her own, entered just as the owner was standing up to introduce herself. The newcomer sat next down in the spare seat next to Anna, who was probably the only one to notice her arrival. She was struck by something in her manner which was almost furtive. The blond carried herself with an air of confidence yet Anna had the distinct feeling that she had deliberately entered the room at the very last moment. In this room full of the great and good of DC it was not hard to see why anyone would be intimidated - Anna certainly was - but the idea of intimidation sat oddly with a decided air of authority that the other woman exuded.  
While the nursery owner, Mrs Harris, went through her spiel about the care the nursery took to ensure that all the children thrived Anna slumped slightly in the hard chair. Funny how every nursery said the same thing, almost word for word. Suddenly, she noticed that her neighbour had straightened and was playing closer attention to the talk which now focussed on confidentiality and respect for individuals. Anna noticed a greater stress on this than any other nursery she had visited, presumably because so many parents were likely to be involved in the political arena. Anna’s husband, Chris, worked on the periphery of the political game but Anna herself had never been particularly interested. Coming from a small rural town many miles from anywhere there had been little interest in politics in her family. In fact before she met Chris there had been a period in her life when she had barely known who the President was, so busy had she been nursing her grandmother.  
She wondered if the woman next to her worked in politics. She was definitely a professional of some sort, but Anna found her hard to place.  
Mrs. Harris had looked their way a few times while she was speaking, but it was difficult to know if that was because she recognised the other woman or because she did not.  
In the pause while prospectuses were handed out Anna turned to the other woman and introduced herself.  
‘Hi, I’m Anna. I’m new around here.’  
There was an infinitesimal pause before she was granted a wide smile as if her new acquaintance had been checking something out.  
‘Hi, I’m Donna. I’ve lived in this crazy town for many years, but I do remember how strange it can be when you first arrive.’  
They chatted about the problems of adapting to a new place for a while before the audience was given a tour of the nursery. In the scrum of parents Anna noticed that Donna spoke to most of the other people, indeed she was greeted warmly from all sides regardless of political affiliation. The only people who did not speak to her regarded her with the kind of awe usually reserved for celebrities. Maybe her new acquaintance was someone of note - was that why the pause before the introduction? But she had not had an air of disappointment at not being recognised, more the opposite.  
They met up again over cups of tea at the end of the tour.  
Donna grinned at Anna and said with a laugh in her voice   
‘So were you impressed by all the talk of structured learning goals?’  
‘After visiting most of the nurseries in the area, I have to say that I could have given that talk from memory. Yet, I still do not quite see how a three year old needs a structured learning goal in order to be shown how to hold a pencil! ’  
‘This is my first visit, but we pruned down the number to see or I could have been listening to identical talks for months. It helps to have had some personal recommendations as we know a few people in the area.’  
Anna smiled to herself. From what she had witnessed that last part was a massive understatement. Whoever this woman was, she was obviously well known and liked. Anna liked her modesty and hoped that they could be friends.   
‘As we are new to the area my husband thought it would help to view a range of nurseries. He was hoping to come but couldn’t make this afternoon.’  
‘Well, I didn’t anticipate that Josh would be able to come and to be honest it is probably easier without him.’ Donna laughed at Anna’s expression and explained ‘Not that he didn’t want to come, but it might have been more difficult to make a quiet entrance as he knows so many people and he wouldn’t have been alone.’  
Anna was left to puzzle the last part of that statement, not least because of the way in which it was said. As if whoever would have come with the elusive Josh was accepted but not wholly welcomed and as if anyone hearing the comment would know why. Oh well, maybe they would meet again and Anna would find out whatever it was that she had missed.

Later that evening, Anna was telling Chris about her day and meeting the mysterious woman when he suddenly sat up and echoed ‘Donna, did you say her name was Donna? A tall blond in her thirties? Seemed to know everyone? ‘  
‘Yes, and she said her husband’s name was ……’  
‘Josh by any chance?’  
‘How did you know?’  
But Chris was too busy laughing to answer straight away.  
‘You are a scream. Do you realise that most of the country would probably have recognised her without her name or Josh’s? Yet you sit and have a conversation with the woman and never twig. ’  
‘Well we only chatted vaguely about the predictability of nursery visits. Oh and I did mention that you had hoped to be there.’  
‘Well I’m not surprised she was on her own. Low key would have been difficult otherwise.’  
‘Yes, she did say something odd about this Josh knowing a lot of people and not coming alone. I don’t see why he would need to bring anyone with him if he didn’t want to.’  
Chris erupted in a loud guffaw and Anna wanted to slap him. What had she missed and when would he finally tell her what the joke was?  
Noticing her expression Chris made a valiant effort to contain himself and gasped out ‘He doesn’t have any choice, they go with him everywhere.’  
‘Who? And why?’  
‘The Secret Service - you were talking to Donna Lyman, wife of the White House Chief of Staff.’  
Anna sat down heavily ‘But she was so ..so….so normal.’  
‘Oh, I hear she is lovely and immensely popular, but you do realise she was the First Lady’s Chief of Staff?’  
‘Well that certainly explains all the people who knew her and were so pleased to see her. She certainly had a natural authority, but she was so approachable. That’s why I spoke to her as the others all looked intimidating and a bit superior.’  
‘Well ,if anyone was going to look superior your new friend certainly had the right. They are probably nearly as well known and almost as powerful as the President and First Lady. I just can’t believe you didn’t realise who she was. I suppose if Josh Lyman had turned up with his agents you would have assumed they were all after nursery places!’  
‘Very funny. Well, I was after a place and since you weren’t there I was left to make the decision so I put in an application form. We will just have to wait and see if we get a place like all the other parents.’  
‘If your friend applies I doubt they would have to wait to find out. Not that there is any doubt. They could have a place at any nursery they chose. In fact that snooty woman from ‘The Rocking Horse’ the other week would probably fall over herself to evict another child in order to have them there.’  
‘I doubt they’d go there. There wasn’t a lot to be snooty about and the owner was the type to drop their names into every conversation. Donna seemed to me to be trying to be discreet - not that it worked as she was mobbed when we went on the tour. Do you think……..Oh, can you answer that, you’re nearest’  
Chris reached over lazily to pick up the phone and Anna was surprised to see him straighten up almost involuntarily. He usually only did that when the minister or his boss rang.  
‘Yes, no problem, she’s right here, just a moment.’  
He held his hand over the phone and grinned at Anna.  
‘Guess who’  
‘Chris’  
‘OK it’s your new friend’  
‘Who?’  
‘Remember the conversation we just had?’  
‘But I didn’t give her my number.’  
‘You didn’t have to. The Secret Service works for her husband. By now they’ll probably have your own nursery records.’ At her startled look he added, ‘They have to be careful and no-one at the meeting today knew you or could vouch for you.  
Anna silently took the phone from him, feeling ill-at-ease now she knew the identity of the blonde woman.  
Donna soon put her at her ease and they chatted for a while about their impressions of the nursery.  
‘I hope you don’t think it a cheek, but I wondered if we could get together for a coffee. I could tell you the inside information on DC and you could share your experiences of nursery visits.’  
‘That would be lovely. As I don’t know anyone my diary is virtually empty.’  
‘Could you make tomorrow? I know it’s short notice but we’ve got the State visit later in the week so we’ll be busy.’  
They arranged a place and time to meet and Anna came off the phone looking dazed. Having to arrange coffee around State visits was certainly a new one for her, although Donna had said it like anyone else talked of arranging meetings around hair appointments.   
‘Well. You’re a fast mover. Talk about going to the top. You don’t know anyone here so manage to pick Donna Lyman as your buddy,’ Chris laughed.   
‘It’s called good taste - something I obviously share with the First Lady,’ retorted Anna. ‘You know the nice thing?’  
‘Other than making friends with the powerful elite?’  
‘That’s just it. OK so she had to fit in coffee before arranging a State visit, but other than that she seems so, so, well ordinary. No pretensions and she even managed to make it sound like we each had something to give - she will tell me about living here and I will share my nursery experience.’  
‘Sounds fair to me.’  
‘And it did to me when she said it, but you didn’t see how many people rushed up to speak to her today. I have no doubt that if she sent out a memo to Congress asking for help with childcare she would be mobbed by replies. Everyone who knew her seemed to genuinely like her. None of the political being nice to get somewhere, they all wore proper smiles and, it probably seems silly, but they all walked away looking happier than before they spoke to Donna. I wonder if her husband is like that.’  
Chris laughed, ‘The guy was known as Bartlett’s bulldog in the last administration and I doubt his current job allows him many real friends. Word has it that he is respected even by Republicans but I am not sure they actually like him. It would be interesting to meet him, but I doubt that will happen.’

The following day Chris was surprised to get a summons to the boss. To the best of his knowledge he was up to date with his workload and the boss tended not to bother with his minions unless they were in trouble.  
‘Chris, come on in. Have a seat.’  
The welcome was too jovial for a reprimand to be in the offing so Chris settled in his seat and waited.  
‘I had an interesting phone call yesterday about you.’  
‘Yes, sir.’  
‘It was from an agent at the White House, carrying out a security check. Did I miss something? Have you got anything on your desk requiring a visit to the White House?’  
‘No, sir, I think it was probably to do with my wife. She met Donna Moss yesterday and they are having coffee together today.’  
‘Right, well that’s certainly a good connection to make.’  
‘It was purely accidental. Anna didn’t know who she was talking to at the time.’  
‘You’re kidding me. I didn’t think after all this time there was anyone in DC who wouldn’t recognise either of the Lymans. They have both been headline news in the past, of course, but more recently they have been quite prominent in the gossip columns. The press is fascinated by their unique situation.’  
‘Anna has lived a long way from here and has never been very interested in politics. They only introduced themselves by first names so there was nothing to give her a clue until I put two and two together for her.’  
‘Well I’m glad you made the connection. It could be very useful if you got to know the Lymans, although Josh can be very abrasive. I’ve only met him a few times but I didn’t take to him. Now, I have another project for you to look at……’  
Chris was left wondering whether his boss’s antipathy to Josh Lyman put him in a better or worse light. Mr. Harris tended to like people who did as they were told or who agreed with him - preferably both. Josh Lyman would fit neither category.

Anna met Donna in a small coffee shop tucked down a back street.   
‘I hope you found this place without too much difficulty,’ said Donna as she stirred her coffee. ’It is a little out of the way so I tend to see less people that I know. It can be distracting to have to stop and say hello every few minutes.’  
‘No problem, you gave very clear directions. Very precise.’  
Donna laughed.  
‘Years of Josh I’m afraid. He gets lost anywhere he hasn’t been at least ten times. It took him months to find his way around the White House the first time round. And, of course, manlike he refused to carry one of the little maps they provided. He just kept asking me were he had to be.’  
‘Chris is as bad. When we came here we drove round for half an hour only to find we had been in sight of our new place the whole time! He kept saying that he was a man and man the hunter knew his way around the planet because it was in his genes. I told him woman the sensible had the brains to ask and not rely on her trousers to navigate. Then when we found the place he insisted that he had been getting a feel for the area.’  
‘Why do men waste so much time belittling us then when they finally realise that we are right they waste more energy making up ridiculous excuses for their behaviour?’  
‘I wonder sometimes how Chris manages to do anything at work when he struggles with the simplest things at home.’  
‘Josh goes from matters of national importance to needing help to dress in the space of a car ride home. I firmly believe that if he didn’t have agents to drive him he would have trouble finding his way home some days. Day to day life just seems to have passed by his learning circuits. Mind you, he still gets impressed when I cook dinner as he has no clue as to how the food gets from the supermarket to the house let alone how it ends up as a meal.’  
‘They sound very similar. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Chris is very intelligent and good at his job, but the domestic gene is definitely missing.’  
‘We should get them together sometime. It sounds like they would get on like a house on fire.’  
Anna smiled but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to meet Josh Lyman after all she had heard about him.

However, Anna realised when they met that the one fact everyone had forgotten to mention was how charming the man could be when he wanted. She and Chris had been invited to dinner chez Lyman a few weeks after the nursery visit. She had met Donna for coffee regularly and they had quickly found that they had a lot in common, especially their sense of humour. But meeting husbands was always a difficult one and when one of them was running the country it was a worry. Having to negotiate two burly agents outside the door did nothing for Anna’s nerves.  
She need not have fretted because Josh was all charm and delighted to meet his wife’s new friend. He and Donna had such a way with each other that Anna was surprised to learn they had only been married for a year and even more surprised to learn that they had only been a couple for two.  
‘Josh was just incredibly slow to recognise my great beauty and talent,’ suggested Donna.  
‘Well the constant stream of trivia didn’t help.’  
‘That supposed trivia helped you on countless occasions. You are just jealous that I know more than you.’  
‘Quality not quantity Donna. Fulbright scholar, remember.’  
‘Chief Justice, Josh.’  
‘That’s just one ….’  
‘Do you want me to mention all the others?’ Donna looked sideways at Josh with a provocative smile on her face. ‘Stackhouse and social security and……’  
Josh quickly changed the subject.  
‘These nurseries…….’  
‘Misdirection Josh. Just admit I know more than you like a good boy and then we can eat.’  
Anna wanted to laugh as she watched them but did not know them well enough to judge their reaction. Had she but known it Josh and Donna were used to others finding their banter amusing. It would take a longer acquaintance to learn that they had a unique style and were impervious to the way the rest of the world were either baffled or amused by them.  
By the time their respective offspring had been at nursery together then in the same class at school, Anna and Chris felt they could laugh at all the other couple’s continuous banter and be amused by the reactions of people meeting the Lymans for the first time. Some expected them to play the power couple while others expected erudite discussion on social issues. Very few expected the apparent battle for supremacy which only their closest friends realised was a cover for and a way of expressing a deep and abiding connection between them.


End file.
